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This paper aims to study the significance of China's Industrial Structure Rationalization (ISR) in reducing carbon emissions. To this end, this study uses panel data from 30 Chinese province from 2000 to 2019 to measure the Industrial Structure Rationalization of each province by calculating the Thiel index, base on which a nonlinear autoregressive lagged distribution (NARDL-PMG) model is established to explore the impacts of industrial structure rationalization on carbon emissions. The results show that: (1) There still exist significant regional differences between Eastern and Central-Western regions in industrial structure as illustrated by the ISR index. The industrial structure in Eastern region is more rational; (2) In the long run, the carbon emission in China will drop when the industrial structure becomes more rational; (3) However, in the short run, the carbon emission in China will increase when the industrial structure becomes more rational. Besides the findings above, the major difference between this paper and the extant researches is that this paper pays attention to the relationship between industrial structure rationalization and environmental quality by investigating the asymmetric influences of industrial structure rationalization index's positive and negative shocks on carbon emission, which lays solid foundations for government aiming to set more detailed policies. • Focus on the impact of rationalization of industrial structure on CO2 emissions. • Focused on the linear relationship between industrial structure and carbon emissions. • Attempts to analyze three regional pairs from the East, Central and West regions. • Provide a reference for developing countries to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordination of economic development and ecological conservation has emerged as a global trend for sustainable development. This paper utilizes the "Broadband China" policy as a quasi-natural experiment, employing panel data from 279 prefecture-level cities spanning from 2006 to 2019. By constructing a spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) model, it examines the impact of digital infrastructure (DI) on industrial ecology (IE). The study finds that DI enhances both local and neighboring IE, with a spatial attenuation boundary of 600 km for IE impacts on neighboring cities. DI primarily facilitates the transformation of IE by promoting green technology innovation and expediting factor mobility. Heterogeneity analysis conducted using a spatial difference-in-difference-in-differences (SDDD) model reveals that DI has a greater impact on IE in resource-based cities, highly marketized regions, small-scale cities, and eastern regions. This research provides a novel perspective for exploring the transformation of IE theoretically and offers practical insights for leveraging digitization to promote IE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite ecotourism certification's efficacy as a potential environmental management tool for promoting sustainable development, the applicability of Western ecotourism certification patterns in China and the environmental effects of China's ecotourism certification remain unclear. Based on China's Prototype-zone of National Ecotourism Attractions (PNEA) certification, this paper aims to provide empirical evidence on the causal relationship between ecotourism and low-carbon sustainable development in relation to public environmental concerns. The multiperiod Difference-in-Differences (DID) model is set up to examine the supervision of PNEA certification on regional carbon emissions based on the panel data from 285 Chinese prefecture-level cities in 2011–2017. Results demonstrate that PNEA approval can reduce regional carbon emissions by 1.1% per capita, and this effect would increase over time. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the carbon emission reduction impact is significantly higher on midwestern cities, resource-dependent cities, and cities with net population inflow. Furthermore, the determinants of public environmental concerns, such as PNEA's functions of tourism economic development and environmental education, are crucial for low-carbon sustainable development. The findings quite clearly account for the contributions of ecotourism certification in promoting sustainable development and the benefits of effective policy instruments. • The PNEA certification implemented by China's central government is different from the Western ecotourism certifications. • The approval of China's unique ecotourism certification can reduce regional carbon emissions by 1.1% per capita. • The economic development function and environmental education function are key to promoting public environmental concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the goal of "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality" in China, it is significant to explore whether green finance contributes to carbon emission reduction. Therefore, based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2020, this paper empirically examines the impact of green finance on carbon emissions and its mechanism using the FE model, GMM model, DID, and the mediating effect model. Results find that green finance can significantly promote carbon emissions reduction, and this promotion remains still after robustness tests. The heterogeneity analysis shows that green finance's carbon emission reduction effect is more significant in developed and western regions. Moreover, the results of policy intervention effects confirm that green finance reform and innovation pilot zones (GFRIs) for carbon emission reduction are more pronounced than in other regions. Finally, the mediating effects reveal that industrial structure and green innovation are the core transmission channels through which green finance influences carbon emission reduction. These findings offer meaningful implications for formulating reasonable carbon emission reduction plans and determining the future development direction of green finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Construct the green development performance system of industrial enterprises from the micro perspective. • Simulated the green development performance index of industrial enterprises with the functional data analysis method. • Analysis the regional difference of the index. • Verify the stability and reference value of the index. This paper constructs an enterprise green development performance system by integrating green development concept and enterprise performance measurement. Based on the panel data of 458 industrial listed enterprises in China from 2011 to 2018, this paper simulates the green development performance index of industrial enterprises by using the functional data analysis method and functional entropy weight method. There are four main conclusions. First, the change in the green development performance index of industrial enterprises is U-shaped, which shows an upward trend overall. Within a range of [0.006–0.05], the minimum value is 0.006, and considering the strength and trend of future policies there is no maximum value. The higher the value is, the higher the level of green development of industrial enterprises. Second, according to the weight and fitting curves, we can find that the importance and development level of social performance are at the highest, and the importance level basically floats around 0.5, far higher than the average level. The importance of economic performance and the development level of innovation performance are at the lowest respectively, and there is a big gap with the average level. Third, the shape and trend of the index generated by the average weight and the subjective weight of social performance are basically consistent with the index generated by the objective weight. This shows that the index is not sensitive to the weight and has certain robustness and representativeness. Finally, according to the location of enterprises, they were divided into three categories: middle, east and west. The boost Trap method was used to conduct FANOVA (Functional ANOVA) with the P value of 0.314. The results showed that the index did not differ significantly between regions at the significance level of 0.05. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon footprint (CF) and inequality reductions were two of the most important sustainable development goals. However, there was a lack of understanding of the latest equality of carbon footprint across regions. Based on the multi-regional input-output table and the China Family Panel Studies survey data of 17 provinces, this paper examined the evolution of carbon footprint and inequality in China. The results showed a stark disparity between regions and a declined inequality in the last few years. Specifically, the CF per capita in northern provinces (Liaoning, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Shandong and Shaanxi) exceeded the average level in 2017. From 2015 to 2017, the carbon inequality showed a downward trend, with a national CF-Gini coefficient decrease from 0.31 to 0.28. Meanwhile, the gap between CF per capita in urban areas and rural areas was declining, with a growth rate at 18% and 32% from 2015 to 2017, respectively. In addition, CF per capita from various consumption categories indicated that household equipment and daily necessities, residential, transportation and communication were the three most important sources, with a downward trend from 2015 to 2017. This study would provide policymakers with deep insights into policies to achieve just transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality" is one of the important tasks of China's current and future economic construction and development, but the carbon emission reduction effect of High-speed rail (HSR) has not yet been fully studied. In this paper, based on the panel data of 274 cities in China from 2003 to 2016, we take the opening of HSR in the cities as a "Quasi-natural Experiment", and construct the Multi-period Difference-in-Difference Model to explore whether the opening of HSR can reduce carbon emissions of cities along the route, and use the mediating effect model and moderating effect model to further analyze its internal mechanisms. We find that:①The opening of HSR can significantly reduce the carbon emissions of cities along the route, and the opening of HSR in a city will reduce the carbon emissions of the city by about 2.4% on average, and this carbon emission reduction effect usually manifests significantly in the first year after the opening of HSR, and increases year by year thereafter.②The mechanism test shows that the traffic substitution effect, the optimization of the industrial structure and the promotion of economic agglomeration have partial mediating effect on the influence between the opening of HSR and urban carbon emissions. In addition, the increase in the intensity of government environmental regulations can strengthen the effect of the opening of HSR on reducing urban carbon emissions.③The regional heterogeneity research shows that the opening of HSR has a more significant impact on the carbon emissions of cities in the eastern coastal region and western region of China. Moreover, in the western region, the reduction effect of the opening of HSR on carbon emissions is only reflected in the key cities rather than ordinary prefecture-level cities. This paper provides certain reference significance for promoting low-carbon and green economy and helping China to achieve the "Carbon Neutrality" climate action goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of green finance on green innovation, focusing on their spatial and non-linear relationships. Using panel data of 30 provinces of China during the period of 2009–2017, a green finance index is constructed, and the spatial Durbin model and panel threshold model are used. The results reveal that: (1) Green finance and green innovation had significant positive autocorrelation, and the development of green finance in provinces of central and western China were still in the lower-level range. (2) The coefficients of the direct effect and indirect effect of green finance on green innovation were significantly positive, which indicated that green finance was conducive to enhancing green innovation in local and adjacent provinces during the research period. (3) Double threshold effects of green finance on green innovation were observed, which demonstrated that the driving effect of green finance was decreased with the raising of intensity of environmental regulation. The implication of these results is that government should make full use of the radiation and trickle-down functions of green finance and green innovation to narrow regional gaps in sustainable development while maintaining a moderate intensity of environmental regulation. • A green finance index of 30 provinces of China during the period of 2009 to 2017 was constructed on the basis of green credit, green securities, green insurance, and green investment. • The heterogeneity of region and time for green finance were analyzed employing the spatial exploratory analysis, which manifested that the spatial evolution of green finance in China presents a gradient decreasing pattern from east to west. • The impact of green finance on green innovation was explored by the spatial Durbin model, which proved that the direct effect and the spatial spillover effect were significantly positive. • Moderate intensity of environmental regulation helps green finance promote green innovation and this value should not exceed a maximum of 0.935. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development emphasizes the sustainability of natural resources and the environment. Under the background of resource scarcity and environmental constraints, it is of great significance to explore the impacts of the ecological footprint on the resource-rich but unbalanced China's Yangtze River Economic Belt from two perspectives of flow capital occupation and stock capital occupation. This study uses a fixed-effect regression model to investigate the impacts of ecological footprint breadth and depth on sustainable development by the panel data of 108 prefecture-level cities in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2006 to 2018. Further combining the panel threshold regression model results, we identify ecological footprint breadth and depth as having inverted N-shaped and inverted U-shaped relationships with sustainable development. Firstly, there is a double threshold effect between ecological footprint breadth and sustainable development. Then, there is a single threshold effect between ecological footprint depth and sustainable development. When ecological footprint breadth is within the threshold of (0.2802, 0.7997), it is conducive to sustainable development. When ecological footprint depth is less than 2.5404, it is conducive to sustainable development. Secondly, ecological footprint breadth improves sustainable development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt by rationalizing and advancing industrial structure. Ecological footprint depth achieves sustainable development through rationalizing industrial structure. Thirdly, the mechanism of the ecological footprint on sustainable development has regional heterogeneity. Finally, this paper proposes several policy implications for achieving China's sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although green growth has become the economic development strategy of many countries in the world, and studies have analyzed the influencing factors of green growth from multiple angles, there are few literatures devoted to the impact of fintech and green finance on green growth. From the perspective of fintech development, this paper tries to construct a comprehensive index to evaluate the green growth of regional economy based on the in-depth analysis of the influence mechanism of green finance on green growth. At the same time, China's provincial panel data from 2011 to 2018 are selected to test the impact of fintech innovation and green finance on green growth, and its mechanism. It turns out that fintech and green finance significantly promotes green economic growth. At the same time, the impact of fintech and green finance on green growth has obvious regional heterogeneity, that is, the impact in eastern China is significantly stronger than that in central and western China. Further research shows that fintech innovation mainly promotes green economic growth through green credit and green investment. Therefore, fintech innovation can promote green economic growth by improving the development level of green finance, which has great reference significance for most countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linkages between air pollution and individual subjective well-being (SWB) are theorized as a key component of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Using the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) covering 12,668 residents who were interviewed for five consecutive times during 2010–2018, we find significant negative effects of air pollution on individual SWB via the change of the respondent's physical health level, physical exercise behavior and obesity risk. Specifically, a one standard deviation increase in county's annual average PM 2.5 concentrations, instrumented by thermal inversion, is associated with a 2.45 standard deviations decrease in individual SWB level. In particular, people who are male, young people, less educated group, urban resident and live in eastern or western China are more sensitive to air pollution. This paper provides new insights into the health costs of air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development stipulates 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The implementation of this agenda will mobilize countries worldwide to incorporate the SDGs into their national development strategies. The agenda does not specify how these goals are interconnected, thus limiting their implementation. In addition, air quality affects human life and plays a vital role in achieving these SDGs. Clarifying the interconnections between SDGs related to air pollution and other SDGs will accelerate the implementation of air protection and SDGs while simultaneously promoting policy coherence. In this paper, we use the latest calculation of the SDGs in China to construct national and provincial panel data to investigate the trade-offs and synergies among Chinese air pollution-related SDGs. The findings are as follows. First, most air pollution-related SDGs have synergetic relationships, except for SDG12, which has a trade-off relationship with other air pollution-related SDGs. Second, the synergies between air pollution-related SDGs and other SDGs far outweigh the trade-offs. Third, rapidly developing areas are more likely to experience a trade-off between economic development and air pollution problems. Fourth, geographic advantages in reducing air pollution, such as being adjacent to the sea, may weaken the synergies among air pollution-related SDGs and their synergies with other SDGs. These findings indicate that most air-pollution-related SDGs and interactions between air-pollution-related SDGs and other SDGs have substantial synergy; that is, measures aimed at one goal are conducive to the advancement of other goals. However, SDG12 reflects a trade-off relationship between economic development, environmental protection, and resource utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green development is a common goal pursued globally for carbon neutrality, and whether environmental regulatory system drives it in pollution-intensive industries (PIIs) is puzzled. Using provincial panel data of Chinese PIIs during 2005–2017, this paper applied entropy method to integrate existing environmental regulatory system into three types of environmental regulations, and then explored non-linear effects of them on green total factor productivity (GTFP). Several conclusions are generated. The annual growth rate of GTFP is 10.61% and it presents industrial differences. Technical change is the driving factor, while technical efficiency shows inhibiting effect. The effect of command-and-control environmental regulation on GTFP is a significant inverted U-shape curve, which is currently the primary driving role in green development, but it is too strict and increasingly less effective. Both market incentive and voluntary environmental regulations appear as positive U-shape curves, and their proper enhancement is breakthrough for future green development. Besides, market incentive environmental regulation is more effective in PIIs with relatively low pollution, while voluntary environmental regulation is sensitive to PIIs with relatively serious pollution. The Chinese government should allow environmental regulatory system more marketability and voluntariness, and production characteristics and pollution density of targeted industries should be considered. • The green development grows rapidly but shows technical inefficiency. • Command-and-control environmental regulation drives green development effectively. • Market incentive and voluntary environmental regulations can be enhanced properly. • Market incentive environmental regulation is sensitive to slight-polluted industries. • Voluntary environmental regulation works in heavy-polluted industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve sustainable economic development, many developing countries have continuously tightened their environmental regulations; for example, the Chinese government revised some policies to protect the environment, such as the Environmental Protection Law, and levied environmental taxes. Will these regulatory tools affect the growth of the industrial economy? What are the differences in the influence of various types of environmental regulations? Based on city-level panel data from China, this paper applied a difference-in-difference (DID) model and a bootstrap panel Granger causality test to investigate the relationship between two types of environmental regulations (command-and-control environmental regulation and market-Based incentive environmental regulation) and industrial growth. The results show that (1) Command-and-control environmental regulation (CAC) has a significant inhibitory effect on industrial growth. (2) In most regions, there is no significant Granger causality between market-based incentive environmental regulation (MBI) and industrial growth. (3) Compared with command-and-control environmental regulation, market-based incentive environmental regulation allows more flexibility for enterprises, which is more beneficial for technological innovation. Meanwhile, market-based incentive environmental regulation does little to suppress industrial growth. • Environmental regulation are subdivided into the MBI(Market-Based Incentive) and the CAC(Command and Control). • We reflect the influence of the CAC environmental regulation on overall industrial performance to the industrial growth. • It investigates the relationship between the two types of environmental regulations and industrial growth respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]